USA > Michigan > Ionia County > History of Ionia County, Michigan : her people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 38
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Mr. Townsend has long made a specialty of feeding live stock, paying particular attention to sheep, and annually fattens about four thousand sheep, buying his lambs in the West and feeding them for the market, handling more than twenty carloads of corn, part of which he sells. He also feeds and ships considerable quantities of cattle and hogs during the course of a year and has made a decided success of his operations in that connection. His fine home, "The Evergreens," is a large brick house, surrounded by spacious grounds, beautifully shaded, there being seventeen varieties of trees on the lawn. Mr. Townsend is an ardent Prohibitionist and for years has been one of the most active workers in that cause in his neighborhood. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and he and his wife are earnest members of the Methodist church, actively interested in all good works in their community.
(25a)
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Mrs. Townsend's parents, Daniel J. Greene and wife, now living comfortably retired in a very pleasant home at 428 Union street. Ionia. founded "The Evergreens" and lived there until seven years prior to their daughter's marriage to Mr. Townsend, when they moved to Ionia, leaving the management of the farm to Mr. Townsend who later bought it, as noted above. Daniel J. Greene was born in Stephentown, Rensselaer county, New York, October 16, 1834. son of Joseph and Urana ( Hall) Greene, and was reared on a farm. When twenty-five years of age he came to Michigan. arriving in lonia the night of the bombardment of Ft. Sumter. He bought an eighty-acre tract in section 2, Tonia township, and there established his home, gradually adding to the same until he had developed one of the best farms in the county, "The Evergreens." Before coming here Mr. Greene had married, August 29, 1860. Lucy P. Mattison, who was born in Berlin township. Rensselaer county, New York, daughter of Allen J. and Lucy (Thomas) Mattison, who later also came to Ionia county. Allen J. Mattison and his son. Daniel J., buying a farm of three hundred acres in Ronald township, now the home of Daniel J. Mattison. To Mr. and Mrs. Greene but one child was born, a daughter. Lucy M .. who married Emery Town- send.
ANSELM VETTER.
Anselm Vetter, a well-known and well-to-do retired farmer of this county, now living comfortably retired in the pleasant village of Clarksville. is a native of Germany, but has been a resident of the United States since 1871. Ile was born in Baden on February 16. 1844. son of George and Frances (Seeberman) Vetter, farming people, who spent all their lives in their native province and who were the parents of eight children, three sons and five daughters.
Anselm Vetter was reared on a farm in Baden and worked there as a farmer until he was twenty-seven years old, when, in 1871, he came to the United States with a view to establishing himself in a somewhat better condition in the New Workl than he reasonably conld hope to attain in the old country. He had saved up quite a little sum of money with which to make a start over here, but his purse was stolen from his berth on the vessel on the way over and he landed at the port of New York with just five cents in his pocket. On the night following his landing he slept on the beach, not having money with which to pay for a bed, and for several days was com-
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pelledi to get along on very short rations. Presently he secured work on a Massachusetts farm and there he remained for seven months, receiving eighteen dollars a month for his labor. He then went to Erie county, New York, where he secured a position on a farm near Buffalo and he remained with that farmer for three years, at the end of which time he secured employment with another farmer, with whom he remained for seven years. In the meantime he had been saving his wages and in 1882 came to Michi- gan for the purpose of buying a farm and establishing a home of his own, he having taken unto himself a wife the year before. He settled in Kent county and there bought a tract of land which he improved and presently sold at a profitable advance, buying another and better place, which he also later sold at an advance and then repeated the operation with another farm. each time realizing several hundreds of dollars on his investment. Along in the nineties he came over into lonia county and bought a farm of eighty acres in Campbell township, where he lived and was quite profitably engaged in farming until 1914. in which year he sold the farm, bought his present pleasant home in Clarksville and retired from the active labors of life. since then making his home in Clarksville, where he and his wife are very pleasantly situated. Mr. Vetter is a quiet, unassuming citizen and has never taken an active part in political affairs. He has voted the Republi- can ticket ever since becoming a citizen of the United States, but has never desired or sought public office.
In 1881 Anselm Vetter was united in marriage to Lydia E. Wells, who was born in Minnesota and whose great-grandfather, a native of Scot- land, was a general in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War, serving under General Washington. To this union one child was born, a son, who died when three months okl. Mrs. Lydia Vetter died in 1895 and in March, 1897, Mr. Vetter married, secondly, Mrs. Hannah (John- son ) Barker, widow of Francis Barker, to whose first marriage one child had been born, a daughter, Maud, who married Clarence Shopbell, and died on November 10. 1903, leaving one child, a daughter. Goldie. Mrs. Vetter was born, Hannah Johnson, in Berlin. Canada, November 13, 1851. dangh- ter of Enos and Sarah ( Stauffer) Johnson, natives, respectively, of Penn- sylvania and Canada. Enos Johnson moved from Pennsylvania to Canada when a boy with his parents and there he grew to manhood and married Sarah Stauffer. In 1853 he and his family came over the border into Michigan and established their home in Kent county, where Mr. and Mrs. Johnson spent the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of ten children, three sons and seven daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Vetter take a
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quiet interest in community affairs in the Clarksville neighborhood and perform their part in promoting the common good. Mrs. Vetter is a mem- ber of the Wesleyan Methodist church and takes an active interest in the good works of the same. Mr. Vetter is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with which he became connected more than thirty years ago, and has ever taken a warm interest in the affairs of that popu- lar fraternal organization.
FRANK E. RICHARDS.
Frank E. Richards, a former well-known merchant of Clarksville, this county, and who since 1897 has been postmaster of that town, is a native son of Michigan, having been born in Kent county, this state, August 7, 1863, son of the Rev. David A. and Eliza ( Finch) Richards, natives of New York state, who came to Michigan about 1850. The Rev. David A. Richards was a minister of the Wesleyan Methodist church and for more than fifty years was active in the pulpit. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted as a private in the Michigan Light Artillery and later was detailed as a nurse at Fortress Monroe, in which capacity he served until the close of the war. Upon returning to Michigan at the conclusion of his military service, Mr. Richards settled at Clarksville, this county, where he estab- lished his home and where he spent his last days. The Rev. David A. Richards was a man of great activity in the cause of the church and estab- lished several churches throughout this county, including the church at Clarksville, Saranac and West Berlin, in addition to labors on behalf of the church in neighboring counties. In 1887 he was sent by the conference of his church to California as missionary to that district and performed a great service there. He and his wife were the parents of six children. of whom the subject of this sketch was the last born.
Frank E. Richards received his education in the schools of Clarksville and Saranac and early began teaching school. For five years he was thus engaged and then he began working in the stores of Clarksville, Brighton and Green Oak, acquiring an excellent mercantile training. For eighteen months he was engaged as a bookkeeper in a newspaper office at Manistee and while thus engaged was stricken down with a serious illness. He returned to his home at Clarksville and for some time his recovery was in doubt, but he presently recovered and in the fall of 1893 engaged in the mercantile business at Clarksville, where he established a general store. In
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1897 he received the appointment as postmaster of Clarksville, and has ever since held that office. In 1905 he sold his store in order to devote his whole attention to his official duties. During a considerable portion of this time he also performed the duties of town clerk, to which office he was elected in 1894 and was continuously re-elected thereafter until he had held the office for fifteen years. He also has served for several years as a member of the school board, and in all his public service has ever been mindful of the common good. For ten years, or until the disbanding of the organiza- tion in 1914. Mr. Richards was secretary of the Postmasters League of Michigan and thus became one of the best-known postmasters in the state.
On April 20, 1886, in Livingston county, this state. Frank E. Richards was united in marriage to Mary Tanner, who was born at Marshfield, in Athens county, Ohio, April 10, 1866, and to this union two children have been born, Mand, who married Frank Sewall, of Grand Rapids, and has two children, Elizabeth and Gordon, and Lucile, a former teacher in the Clarksville schools, who is now qualifying for the profession of a trained nurse. Mr. and Mrs. Richards are members of the Congregational church, of which Mr. Richards is a trustee, and take an active part in local good works. Mr. Richards is a member of the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Knights of the Maccabees and takes a warm interest in the affairs of those organizations.
LEROY A. SCOVILLE.
Leroy .A. Scoville, one of lonia county's best-known and most influen- tial citizens, for many years an extensive farmer and stock dealer in Camp- bell township, now living retired in the pleasant town of Clarksville, this county, is a native of Ohio, having been born in Marion county, that state, March 20, 1843, son of Ashel A. and Mary ( Lancaster) Scoville, both natives of that same state, the Scovilles in this country being of English and Welsh descent and the Lancasters of Scottish origin, both families represented in the parentage of the subject of this sketch dating back to Puritan days in New England.
Ashel A. Scoville was a farmer in Ohio and in 1853 he came with his family from Erie county, Ohio, to Michigan, settling in Campbell town- ship, this county. The family drove through on the old Clinton trail, Mr. Scoville driving a team attached to the big wagon, his wife and young
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daughter riding in a single buggy, the son, Leroy, then a lad of about ten years of age, walking all the way, driving the cattle. The horses driven by the Scovilles were the first horses brought into Campbell township and were among the first brought to Ionia county, the earlier settlers having been getting along with oven, as better adapted to the rough hauling of the deep timber. Ashel A. Scoville bought eighty acres of land one-half mile north of where the village of Clarksville later sprang up and there he established his home. From the very beginning of his residence in this county he took an active part in the simple public life of that time and at once became a man of large local influence. His wife died in the fall of 1860 and he died the following spring, leaving two children, survivors of the four which had been born to them and of whom the subject of this sketch was the eldest.
Leroy A. Scoville was eighteen years of age at the time of his father's death and he thereafter took care of his younger sister until her marriage. After his father's death he took his sister back to Ohio and he then went to Missouri, where he had an uncle living, and in October of that year. 1861, he enlisted for service against the guerillas in Company F, First Mis- souri Cavalry. The following February this company of calavry was mus- tered into the regular service of the United States and Mr. Scoville served until the close of the war, being mustered out in April, 1865, with the rank of orderly sergeant, the highest rank of the non-commissioned officers. His service was confined to points west of the Mississippi river and during a part of this time was in the army of General Fremont. During his resi- dence in Missouri, Mr. Scoville was a neighbor of the James family, after- ward so notorious in the criminal annals of the West, and was quite a good friend of one of the James girls: he often recalling in after life how the later notorious Jesse James was wont to act as intermediary in carrying letters from his sister to the young Northerner. Upon the conclusion of his military service, Mr. Scoville returned to Michigan, but in 1869 went to California, where he bought and leased a considerable tract of land in the Sacramento valley and there he remained for four years. While there his sister, Jennie, married Charles Clark, a native of New Hampshire.
In 1873 Mr. Scoville returned to Michigan and took charge of the old Scoville homestead in Campbell township, this county, farming the same with such success that he presently began to enlarge his holdings, eventually becoming the owner of a fine farm of five hundred acres. He also engaged extensively in the live-stock business and it was not long until he was generally recognized as one of the most substantial farmers and
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business men in lonia county. From the very beginning his interest in his home neighborhood proved a powerful incentive to Mr. Scoville's course in relation to all movements affecting the general welfare of the people of that part of the county, and it is conceded that his influence in local affairs and his activity in behalf of the common good thereabout did very much toward the development of that community. Mr. Scoville has always voted the Republican ticket and for many years has taken an active and influential part in local politics. He has been justice of the peace for twenty-five or thirty years and in 1896 was his party's candidate for representative from this district in the state Legislature, but was defeated with the rest of the ticket.
In February, 1867, in this county, Leroy A. Scoville was united in marriage to Martha J. Hogle, who was born in Ohio and who came to Michigan with her parents. Iliram Hogle and wife, in 1866, the family settling in this county. To this union five children were born, as follow : James L., Eugene. Claud E., who married Lillian Blough; Dr. Glenn H., a veterinary surgeon, of Clarksville, who married Ethel Smith, and Fred R., who died when fourteen years of age. The mother of these children died in November, 1912, and on February 24, 1915. Mr. Scoville married, sec- ondly, in Alpena county, this state, Mrs. Johanna E. ( Deadman) Johnson, widow of Eugene S. Johnson, to whom she was married on June 26. 1902, and who died on June 12. 1907, without issue. Mrs. Scoville was a school teacher for more than twenty years and holds a teacher's life certificate in Michigan and high credits in the state of Wisconsin, her special work in pedagogy having been in the department of nature studies, in which she had a high standing during the years of her active work in the school room.
Mrs. Johnson was born, Johanna Deadman, in the city of London, Ontario, daughter of William H. and Christina ( McKay) Deadman. natives, respectively, of Oxford, England, and Inverness, Scotland, both of whom had gone to Canada in their youth with their parents and were married there in 1852. William H. Deadman was the son of Jacob Deadman, who was the founder of the famous Deadman Veterinary Remedy Company, of England, and was associated with his father in that business. Of his right sons, seven became veterinary surgeons and the eighth also studied along the same lines, but did not become a practitioner. It is notable that the sons of these seven surgeons are now following in the same line that has made the name Deadman famous in veterinary lore for generations, the company bearing that name having the reputation of being the best of its kind in the world. Mr. Scoville is a Mason and was one of the organ-
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izers of the lodge of that order at Clarksville. He has been a Mason for more than fifty years and now enjoys the distinction of having been created a life member of that ancient order.
FRED H. VANDERHEYDEN.
Fred H. VanderHeyden, one of the prominent men of Ionia, Michi- gan, is the son of William H. and Emily E. ( Wood) VanderHeyden, and was born in lonia.
William H. Vander Heyden was a native of New York state, and his wife was born in Detroit, Michigan. They were the parents of the follow- ing children : William H., who is deceased; Ella M., who is the wife of H. B. Webber, of Ionia; Dora E., who is the wife of Dr. A. H. Holiday, of Long Beach, California, and Fred H., who is the subject of this sketch.
William H. VanderHeyden, the father of the subject of this sketch. was born and raised in Herkimer county, New York, and always followed the manufacturing of bricks after he was of age. He was an early settler in lonia, where he established a brick-yard and later bought the old Thomas Cornell brick-yard, which he sold to his son, Fred, in 1892. He then ran a branch yard at Big Rapids for several years, and had other interests. He died in lonia on August 16, 1910, at the age of seventy-four years. His wife still survives him. His father and mother were both natives of New York state. They both died in New York, she in middle life, and he about the age of ninety years. They had a good-sized family: William H .. George, Daniel, Lavencia, and others. The father of Emily E. ( Wood) Vander Heyden was John Wood. He lived near Detroit for many years. Ile was also a brick manufacturer.
Fred H. VanderHeyden, the subject of this sketch, was born in Ionia and has always lived there. He attended the public schools and later took a course in a business college. He learned the brick manufacturing business under his father, and at the age of twenty-one he bought the brick-yard of his father and has conducted the business himself ever since. The annual output from his yards is from three to four million bricks, and many of the houses of Fonia are built from the brick manufactured by him. On January 23. 1895, he was married to Eleanor M. Clark. She was born in Muske- gon, but her parents were natives of Indiana and her mother is now living at Muskegon. There were four children in the family: Margaret, who is
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the wife of A. G. Dearborn, of Muskegon; Eleanor, who is the wife of the subject of this sketch; Jessie, who is the wife of R. E. Moon, of Muske- gon, and Robert C. Mrs. VanderHeyden's maternal grandfather was Wel- lington C. Clark. of Crown Point, Indiana, and his wife was Mary C. ( Hackley) Clark. They both died at the age of one hundred years. Mr. Clark was the historian for his part of the country. He was a pioneer there and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. They had a small family.
Mr. Vander Heyden is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and also a member of the Maccabees. He is a Democrat in politics.
ARTHUR L. FRANCIS.
The name of Arthur L. Francis, postmaster at Portland, and publisher of the Observer, needs no introduction to the people of Ionia county, for he has for some time been a conspicuous local figure, although yet quite a young man. He was born in Portland, Michigan, March 8, 1891, and is a son of Fred L. and Dora ( Sterling ) Francis, both now living at Greenville, Michigan. To these parents two children were born, Arthur L., the subject of this review, and Marguerite, who is a graduate of the Portland high school and lives in Greenville.
The gentleman whose name forms the caption of this article was edu- cated in the public schools of Portland, and when fourteen years old he entered the office of the Portland Review for the purpose of learning the printer's trade. From "devil" he worked his way up to a responsible posi- tion, and when eighteen years old went to Chicago, where he was connected with the City Press Association for three months and also being employed by the Kenfield-Leach Publishing Company, of that city. He remained with this firm until he returned to Portland, in the fall of 19to, on Septem- ber 26 of which year he purchased the Observer, which he has since edited and published with success, greatly improving its appearance from a mechan- ical standpoint, increasing its circulation and rendering it one of the best country newspapers in the state.
Arthur [. Francis was married on May 21, 1912, in Portland, to Ruth 1. Lockwood, a native of that place, where she grew up and was educated in the public schools, graduating from the local high school. To this mar- riage one child has been born, Maxine Jume Francis, whose birth occurred on June 6, 1914.
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Politically. Mr. Francis is a Democrat and he is active personally as such. He has been chairman of the township committee, and on March 5. 1915, he was appointed postmaster at Portland, a position he is holding with eminent satisfaction to the people and the department. Fraternally, he belongs to Portland Lodge No. 31, Free and Accepted Masons: Port- land Chapter No. 39. Royal Arch Masons, and Lodge No. 199, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star.
JEFFERSON ROBINSON.
It is a pleasure to look over a farm that is well kept and scientifically managed-everything in ship-shape and showing system and good taste- like that owned by Jefferson Robinson on rural route No. 42, Clarksville, Ionia county, Michigan. He was born in Kent county, Michigan, one mile north of Lowell, April 4, 1844, and is a son of Lucas and Delilah ( Shaw) Robinson, both natives of the same county in New York state, where they grew up and were married, later coming to Michigan and locating in Ottawa county, but they soon removed to a farm one mile north of the town of Lowell, where they spent the rest of their lives. Their farm there con- sisted of one hundred and sixty acres and was one of the best in the county. The father was a Democrat, and he was for some time supervisor of his township and served as justice of the peace a number of times. His family consisted of six children, only two of whom survive, namely: Jefferson. the subject of this sketch; Allen makes his home at Lowell, Michigan : John T .. who spent his life as a farmer, is now deceased; Seth L., who was also a farmer, is deceased; Horace owned the farm, on which Jefferson lives, at the time of his death: Eunice, deceased, was the wife of E. R. Crow. of Lowell, Michigan.
Jefferson Robinson was reared on the farm in Kent county, Michigan, and educated in the public schools, after which he turned his attention to general farming, which he has carried on to the present time, with the exception of five years spent in the humber business at Sand lake, and also five years spent in the lumber business in Crawford county, Ohio: also went to Texas and engaged in the real-estate business two years. Returning to fonia county, Michigan, he engaged in farming there for a period of thirty-one years, then returned to Texas, where he spent six years, then came back to fonia county and purchased his present place, "Maple Grove
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Farm," consisting of one hundred and twenty acres, located seven miles southeast of Lowell. This place was left to him by Mrs. Isabelle Robinson, wife of his brother. Horace Robinson, at the time of her death. She was born in the state of Vermont and was a daughter of Worster and Polly English. She came to lonia county, Michigan, with her parents, the fam- ily locating on the above named farm. She spent the rest of her life on this farm, dying without issue, at the advanced age of eighty-two years, having lived here eighty years.
Jefferson Robinson married Ellen J. Cook in 1867. who was born in the state of New York. April 5. 1843, and is a daughter of William and Sarah ( Bennette ) Cook. Her father was a well-to-do farmer in New York. She was only a year old when, in 1844, her uncle brought her to Michigan, locating at Lodi. She received a good education in the public schools and the seminary at Ypsilanti, from which institution she was graduated, after which she taught for several years, including the schools of Grand Rapids and Lowell.
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